USA v. Rene Sanchez-Gomez

Filing

FILED OPINION (SIDNEY R. THOMAS, MARY M. SCHROEDER, STEPHEN REINHARDT, ALEX KOZINSKI, DIARMUID F. O'SCANNLAIN, BARRY G. SILVERMAN, SUSAN P. GRABER, RICHARD A. PAEZ, MARSHA S. BERZON, CONSUELO M. CALLAHAN and SANDRA S. IKUTA) DENIED.Opinion by Judge Kozinski; Concurrence by Judge Schroeder; Dissent by Judge Ikuta. FILED AND ENTERED JUDGMENT. [10453287] [13-50561, 13-50562, 13-50566, 13-50571]

Case: 13-50561, 05/31/2017, ID: 10453287, DktEntry: 108-2, Page 1 of 3

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A Michigan sheriff pledged Tuesday to review his department's
guidelines for transporting suspects charged with violent crimes
after an inmate who was cuffed in front rather than behind his back
wrested a gun from a deputy and killed two court bailiffs.
Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey initially told reporters that Larry
Darnell Gordon was not handcuffed Monday during the brazen
courthouse escape attempt. On Tuesday, Bailey revised that

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happens again, we will," Bailey said. "We'll be working with our
chief judge about our protocols at the courthouse."
Gary Klugiewicz, an inmate transport expert with security
consultant Vistelar in Wisconsin and a retired Milwaukee County
sheriff's captain, said the lack of a transport belt could have played
a major role in the fatal shootings.
"Somebody handcuffed in front is totally able to do just about
anything if they're not restrained to any type of belt," he said.
Gordon was being moved from a holding cell in an area of the
courthouse not open to the public when he disarmed Deputy James
Atterberry Jr. during a fight and shot him. He then moved into a
public hallway in the courthouse and killed bailiffs Joseph Zangaro,
61, and Ronald Kienzle, 63, both retired police officers, Bailey said.
The detainee also shot a woman in the arm and briefly took

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Case: 13-50561, 05/31/2017, ID: 10453287, DktEntry: 108-2, Page 2 of 3
hostages before being fatally shot by other bailiffs at the courthouse
in St. Joseph, the county seat of 8,300 people about 65 miles
northeast of Chicago.
"Those bailiffs were heroes along with all the other officers," Bailey
said. "They ran to where shots were being fired. This could have
been a lot worse without them being so brave to go into the gunfire
and take this person down."
Nathan Hall, a consultant with the National Center for State Courts,
which advises court officials on security, said it is best if two
deputies transport an inmate. One — armed with a stun gun or
baton, but not a firearm — would escort the defendant directly. The
second deputy, armed with a gun, would trail at a safe distance.
"That best practice is tailored specifically to the potential for a
firearm to be used against that transporting officer," Hall said.
"These are best practices. The reality is that that can be expensive.
We understand that. However, these instances happen."

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Hall said his group also recommends handcuffing from behind.
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"He's not been combative. He's always been cooperative the entire
time he was here," Bailey said of Gordon's time in jail while charges
were pending.
Gordon was charged in April with kidnapping, assault with a
dangerous weapon and criminal sexual conduct, according to state
police records.
Coloma Township police Chief Jason Roe told The Associated
Press the charges reflect alleged crimes since 2015, but
investigators had been probing earlier allegations.
Roe said the investigation began April 20, when officers went to
arrest Gordon. He fled and was later caught with the help of a
Michigan State Police dog, the chief said.
"It's unfortunate it ended the way it did," Roe said. "We can't prove
these allegations true in court."
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Case: 13-50561, 05/31/2017, ID: 10453287, DktEntry: 108-2, Page 3 of 3
Gordon was discharged from probation in 2014 after being
sentenced for stealing fireworks from a temporary stand, said
Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz. He
served time in state prison from 1999 to 2002 for fleeing and
eluding police.
Zangaro, one of the bailiffs killed, was head of court security. He
retired from the Michigan State Police as commander of the
Bridgman Post. Kienzle retired as a sergeant in the Benton
Township police department after serving in the U.S. Army.
In 2011, Zangaro told The Herald-Palladium newspaper that
security staff had a "ton of experience," more than many police
departments.
"Probably 90 percent of the people who are here don't want to be,"
he said of people with business in the courthouse. "They have
either a criminal issue, a civil issue or a family issue, and those
become very emotionally charged sometimes."

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Wednesday.
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her gun and fatally shot the presiding judge and court reporter and
then killed a sheriff's deputy outside the building. He later shot and
killed an off-duty federal agent.
A small-town police chief in Kentucky was fatally shot in his cruiser
in 2007 after he cuffed a DUI suspect's hands in the front instead of
the back.
This past March, two violent inmates escaped from the back of a
New Mexico prison van after picking the locks on their handcuffs
with some sort of wire.
Associated Press

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